1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to power sharing and power management in electronic systems, and, specifically, to a power management system in an environment in which multiple battery-powered electronic devices share their power resources to maximize operational life. In addition, the present invention also relates generally to a belt shaped personal docking apparatus that can be used to dock multiple battery operated electronic devices, each in its own holster shaped dock.
2. Related Art
Battery powered electronic devices are commonly utilized in business applications to support business operations. For example, in warehousing and route accounting environments, hand-held data terminals and code readers are commonly utilized. Other commonly utilized battery operated electronic devices for business operations include devices for data display, data collection and data transfer.
As the batteries of electronic devices get exhausted after a few hours of operation, they must be recharged. Recharging involves transferring power from one source of power such as a battery charger to a rechargeable battery that is low on power. In environments such as warehouses, docking stations are provided where batteries can be recharged. The docking station is usually placed in a single, fixed location which ties up the electronic device from use during docking. The docking station is usually kept at a distance away from the places of work and provides means to recharge the rechargeable batteries of the electronic devices when the batteries are exhausted. Some docking stations also provide means to transfer data. For example, in the case of batch-type data collection operations in a warehouse, data terminals that are typically employed for data collection may be placed into a docking station to transfer collected data to a remote computer for processing and to recharge the battery of the data terminal.
Electronic devices that perform a lot of functions often tend to be useful. However, such multiple-function electronic devices are often heavy and bulky. Again, as more functionality is added to the electronic devices, they tend to consume more power and make it necessary for an operator to carry replacement batteries in order to keep them operational for extended periods of time. Although such electronic devices perform multiple functions, they become less portable as they get bulkier due to the addition of extra functions.
A common approach to solving the problem of carrying electronic devices has been to provide a holster for the device that can be attached to a belt that is worn by an operator. With the help of the holster and the belt, the hands of an operator can be freed for other activities when the electronic device is not being used. If multiple electronic devices are employed by an operator in any work environment, the operator also typically carries multiple replacement batteries in order to keep all the devices operational for extended periods of time.
When an electronic device such as a data terminal is not docked in its docking station for recharging or data transfer, the data terminal is often carried by hand during operation and may be kept on the person of an operator in a holster for temporary storage. If the operator has to carry multiple electronic devices, the operator is likely to also carry one holster for each electronic device so that the electronic devices may be temporarily stored in the holster when it is not being used by the operator. Moreover, the operator is also likely to carry at least one replacement battery for each electronic device, especially for devices that are important for the business operations that also consume more power and are likely to need replacement batteries.
When multiple electronic devices are employed for business operations by an operator, it is possible to design an application where the electronic devices cooperate to provide services. For such applications, the services are often disrupted when the battery in some of the cooperating devices is exhausted. Thus, in the case of cooperating electronic devices, the devices with more power, that are currently operational, may become less effective due to their dependence on the devices that are currently inoperable and powerless due to exhausted batteries.
In environments where a plurality of electronic devices are used, the power consumption within each battery powered device is managed to prolong the power supply duration of the battery and keep the device operational. However, some devices are used more frequently than others, with the problem of having to replace the batteries or recharging the batteries more often in these devices than in others. When all the replacement batteries have been used up, the devices that need replacements for their batteries become inoperable and must be at least temporarily taken out of service. This problem occurs even when other devices, especially those that are seldom used and still have operational batteries, are available in the vicinity, often carried in holsters on the person of the operator.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to solve the foregoing and other problems encountered with portable electronic devices.